"Father, I am your servant, willing and desiring
to be
used to
bless your
people."

Romans 7:1Know ye not, brethren, (for I
speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as
long as he liveth?

Romans 7:2For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so
long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her
husband.

Romans 7:3So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she
shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that
law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another
man.

Romans 7:4Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of
Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the
dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Romans 7:5For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the
law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto
death.

Romans 7:6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were
held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the
letter.

Romans 7:7What shall we say then? is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known
sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou
shalt not covet.

Romans 7:8But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of
concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.

Romans 7:9For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I
died.

Romans 7:10And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto
death.

Romans 7:11For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew
me.

Romans 7:12Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and
good.

Romans 7:13Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that
it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the
commandment might become exceeding sinful.

Romans 7:14For we know that the law is
spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.

Romans 7:15For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but
what I hate, that do I.

Romans 7:16If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is
good.

Romans 7:17Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in
me.

Romans 7:18For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for
to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find
not.

Romans 7:19For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that
I do.

Romans 7:20Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that
dwelleth in me.

Romans 7:21I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with
me.

Romans 7:22For I delight in the law of God after the inward
man:

Romans 7:23But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind,
and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my
members.

Romans 7:24O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?

Romans 7:25I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.

Romans 8:1There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Romans 8:2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from
the law of sin and death.

Romans 8:3For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God
sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin
in the flesh:

Ephesians 2:8For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Ephesians 2:9Not of works, lest any man should
boast.

Ephesians 2:10For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we
should walk in them.

Have you ever walked out of a restroom with a trail to
toilet paper trailing behind you? Have you ever been caught in one of those
embarrassing situations in which everyone around you knew that something was not
quite right except for you? You knew something was not right when you noticed
everyone laughing at you or someone had to come up and tell you something
wrong.What about some of the Redneck jokes out there. Have you ever listened
to them and said, whats wrong with that?Sometimes we have deeper problems
that take courage for someone to confront us with.This is the problem that the religious
leaders of Jesus day had. They had a deep problem that Jesus was going to
confront them with.The religious leaders let their religion get in the way
of a true relationship with God. These people got so wrapped up in their little
man-made rules that they lost their love and passion for God.Jesus was
always in trouble with these people because he did not keep their man-made
rules. The religious leaders were so focused on their religion that they could
not even recognize who Jesus was so they crucified him! And he advised us that
the world will hat us as well!Tragically, this ball-and-chain mentality
keeps us from giving ourselves in fresh, innovative ways to
others.

Often time Good people will fall into this trap. I have
come across people who know all the rules they know how to say the right things,
but along the way they have lost their faith and love for Jesus. In trying to DO
more instead of simply being more They trade their love for Jesus for guarding
rules that more times than not have very little to do with loving Jesus. If you
truly love someone your desire is to please!Not because you are forced to or
have to but you do it because you love them and do not want to hurt
them.

I heard a sermononce where the speaker proudly proclaimed that he was a Christian
Pharisee. Is that what Jesus called us to be?We are called to love the Lord God with
all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, we are also to love our neighbor as
ourselves. Not to push legalism of law down their throat with
condemnation!

Religiosity is marked with legalism. One of the most
serious problems facing many so-called Christians today is the problem of
legalism. Legalism puts off the joy of
the Lord in the life of those who believe. Nothing is left
but fear and guilt that haunt a person all the days of his life.
And yet there is
would be prophets declaring this same old message that has been addressed by
much greater men than myself.. Even Jesus had a word for them when he addressed
them a vipers and hypocrites whitewashed Sepulchree's looks good on the outside
but on the inside full of dead men's bones

Nowadays if you say you are a Christian some people
equates it for a gloomy kill-joy religious. Listen to me religion without
relationship will send you to hell..

A. Jesus warned us to "beware of the corrupting
influence of the Pharisees in Matt. 16.6. The word for "leaven' here is zuma,
"zuma," a metaphor for a pervasive "mental and moral corruption, viewed in its tendency to infect
others"

Here are some of the distinguishing marks of Pharisaical
Christianity that identifies the conditions that exist in a system of bondage
and abuse:

1. Members of a particular group suppress in others their
ability to critically analyze and instead to accept the teachings of its founder
or leadership. 2. Once a person has accepted the group, they are then
isolated (and insulated) and discouraged from association with Christians of
other denominations or groups who do not believe as they do, especially in
practice or in critical areas of pet or cardinal doctrines.3. Pharisaical
Christianity becomes cultic when religion --rather than God-- controls a
person's life. They seem unable to make
the distinction between religion and faith.4. Personal religious works,
standards and traditions are required in order for one to be found acceptable to
the group and, ultimately, to God.

5. The "earn as you go" philosophy places the
individual's future in the range of their own human capability to achieve.
Dutiful adherents are made to feel guilty if they do otherwise. 6. They are
encouraged to take on the "giving to get" mentality, making receiving God's gifts and blessings
dependent on their own performance. It is no longer grace, 7. There is a
general attitude of superiority manifested in the actions and words of those
within the group toward those who are different from or might ask questions or
challenge their particular belief system. They will argue with you or leave you
church because of their belief system8. The members of the group are
condescending to others outside of their fellowship, stressing that they are particularly special and are the
ones with whom God is working. It fosters an intolerant "us versus them"
mentality. Pharisees do not feel a part of the universal Christian community
outside of their own narrow society. 9. Any idea or thought expressed that
is contrary to what is commonly held by the group, congregation, or denomination
is considered an attack on their belief system and often strongly resisted and
condemned.10. Legalists believe that only members of their special group,
congregation, or denomination, unlike other groups, have truly forsaken and sacrificed all to
follow the Christ. 11. Attendance and involvement in the group's
meetings, activities and works are used as a measure of one's faithfulness to
God. Good works outside the structure of the group don't count.12. They live
in their own narrow, isolated and insulated world with their own set of rules
and are generally unwilling to associate with anyone who does not abide within
their subgroup. 13. Often, the
founder's (or leader's) words are more often quoted than the Scriptures and are
used to clinch a point, being regarded as convincing proof on the understanding
of a topic.16.The focus is based on the group's system of doctrinal
tenets, usually pet-doctrines, rather than a personal relationship with Jesus
Christ.17. The members of the group are convinced that only they have had
special knowledge or revelation entrusted to them and that their mission is to
convince all others of their doctrinal correctness.18. Labeling and judging other religious groups
to be Babylonish is commonly practiced.A. Liberty is defined as having
freedom from slavery

Legalism is not only a problem of today's church. In
fact, it is one of the problems that plagued the early church in the New
Testament. That is why Paul had to
deal with it in his epistles (Romans and Galatians) frequently. Especially,
when it comes to the relationship of Christians with the law. Going back to
chapter 6 verse 14 of Romans, the
Apostle Paul unequivocally declares that Christians are no longer under the law,
that is, they are given freedom from the Law of
Moses.

When
the Apostle Paul used the word "law' in that verse he was referring to those
laws written in the five books of Moses plus a whole lots of man-made rules and
regulations handed down through generations of Pharisee's and scribes! These
people operating out ofRay
ComfortsWay of the Master needs to
go back to the cross and do their first works over again and quit placing people
under the curse of the law when Christ died to set us free of the curse of the
law. They have the odassity to tell you that if you are not keeping the ten
commandments. You are a false convert! And not truly saved Listen, through the death
of Jesus Christ alone "Not Ray Comfort or Kirk Cameron or any other that the law of the Old Testament finds their
perfect fulfillment. He did not destroy it HE alone fulfilled it because
we simply could not!

And because of believers' union with Christ by faith
they are no longer under the curse of the law. Christ himself took it and finished for us
on the cross (Gal. 3:10)! That's what it means to have freedom from the
law.Now in this section of Romans Paul explains why the law is totally
incapable to provide salvation:

I am going
to give you FIVE reasons why the law cant save you!

I.The Law is BindingThe
binding characteristic of the Law is illustrated by Paul through the imagery of
marriage. We all know that marriage is a life-long relationship. It means so
long that you and your espouse are both alive, you are bound to each other (vv.
1-2). But once your espouse died, you are no longer bound to him or her. In
other words, you are free.In the like manner, one who is under the law is
bound in the strongest possible obligation to keep the whole of it (cf. Gal.
3:10; James 2:10).

Not just the ten but the whole of it… If you even break
as much as one you are guilty of breaking all seven hundred and something
levitical laws But in the case of Christians, we are set free from the
bondage of the law (v. 4). But it does not end there, we are united with Christ. Joint
heirs saved to the uttermost from the guttermost BY Faith alone in CHRIST
alone!

II. The Law fails to Produce Righteousness in usThe Apostle
Paul describes the law as holy, righteous and good (v. 12). And it is Nevertheless, it is weak in
itself. Because left to itself, it has no power to produce righteousness in a
person. the law fails to produce the desire to pursue what is actually right in
the sight of God.Imagine yourself, with no formal training in aeronautics,
being asked to fly an airplane. You are left to yourself. You are on your own. I
think that is a scary picture of a person who tries to live in the standards of
the law with no power or ability to do so. That's tragic!

YOU BURDEN
OTHERS WITH RULES AND REGULATIONS (V45-46)

a)We are SAVED BY GRACE alone in Christ
Alone1. Galatians 1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the
one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different
gospel.2. YOU CAN'T DO ENOUGH GOOD TO BE BETTER IN THE EYES OF GOD.3.
CAN'T KEEP ENOUGH RULES TO SECURE YOUR SALVATION4. If you think people have
to do and keep your rules, then you might be a Pharisee.

b) PHARISEES
DON'T WANT TO HEAR THE TRUTH1. TOO MANY PEOPLE DON'T WANT A MAN OF GOD THAT
WILL PREACH THE TRUTH2. Had a leader once who I asked on three separate
occasion's for some AFFIRMATION - "oh yes I agree!"A few days later he said,
"Well, I talked it over with my wife and we think you're wrong." After the third
time I just kindly told him, "It looks like I just need to start going to your
wife cut out middle man."That was the truth. Many people want pastors to
dilly daddle around with the truth.3. TRUTH HURTS4. GET MAD AND POUT,
GET MAD AND QUIT

c) PHARISEES CAUSE DIVISIONS AGAINST THE MAN OF
GOD1. Gossip about pastors2. Have secret meetings

d) A PHARISEE
CHURCH GOES THROUGH PASTORS LIKE MOST PEOPLE GO THROUGH UNDERWEAR1. Usually
churches who have strongholds of family members. PASTOR, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU
ARE?2. DEACON RAN CHURCHES - God didn't ordain deacons to lead churches. I
KNOW CHURCHES that are ran by a family of deacons ALL RELATED.....3. GOD
APPOINTED PASTORS TO LEAD BUT YOU'VE GOT A BUNCH OF PHARISEES WHO WOULD RATHER
ARGUE AND BICKER THAN SUBMIT TO THE AUTHORITY OF THE PASTOR VIII. YOU WATCH AND
WAIT FOR OTHERS TO MESS UP MORE THAN CONCERN FOR YOUR OWN CONDITION
(V53-54)

a) A PLANK IN YOUR EYE1. Matt 7:4 How can you say to your
brother, "Let me take the speck out of your eye when all the time there is a
plank in your own eye?2. It isn't up to us to judge. WE ARE ALL SINNERS AND
NONE OF US ARE ANY BETTER THAN THE OTHER3. ONE PERSON MAY SIN ONE WAY BUT
YOU SIN ANOTHER - you just see theirs more

I.But notice what happens when
we are free from the law; we receive a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to live in
godly ways (v. 6).He that hath the SON has life not he that has the
LAW! And he made his ascension so the Holy spirit could and would come. Only
when the sin debt was fully paid… The blood of bulls and goats could not fully
pay the sin debt Only Gods son could appease a holy and lofty
God.

III. The Law only Reveals the Reality of SinIn case
his remarks about the law is misunderstood, the Apostle Paul goes on to indicate
that the law itself is not evil, rather it is an instrument whereby a person
becomes conscious of the reality of sin (v. 7). I like the comparison of the
evangelist Fred Brown made to the law with the dentist little mirror,
flashlight, and plumb line.The dentist
little mirror when put inside the mouth helps to locate cavities but it cannot
by itself take away cavities. Suppose one evening the lights go out. You use the
flashlight to guide you through the darkened way to the electrical box. When you
point it toward the fuses, it helps you see which is burned out. After removing
the bad fuse, you don't try to replace it with the flashlight. Instead, you put
a new fuse in it. And in the same way, the builder uses his plumb line to see if
his work is true to the vertical. And when he finds that he made a mistake he
does not use his plumb line to correct it!That's precisely illustrated what
the law does: it points to sin but offers nothing to solve it!

IV. The
Law Stimulates the Desire to Commit SinThe fruit of revealing the reality of
sin by the law is the ignition of the desire to commit sin (v. 8). According to
Paul the very commandment "Do not covet' provides a way for the arousal of all
kinds of covetousness, which in the absence of the law would not be activated.
As Paul wrote elsewhere, "…the strength of sin is the law" (1 Cor.
15:56).There is something in human nature that wants to rebel whenever the
law is give. Take a look at the example in our society. You will notice a sign
on a particular object, "Do not touch' but as you observe you see a number of
people deliberately touching the object. Instruct a child not to go somewhere
and that is exactly what he will do!

V. The Law CondemnsHere is now
the full force of the law: it condemns. The Apostle Paul reminisces his past
experience wherein, according to him, before he came in contact with the law he
was alive, that is he was not yet conscious how guilty and condemned he was; but
when the time he came to know the law that's the time he became conscious of his
guilt and condemned state because he violated the law (v. 9). That's why he
lamented that the very law which is given for holiness led him to sin which
resulted in condemnation.Anyone who tries to live under the law is under its
condemnation. And that is inescapable apart from the mercy of
God.

Such condemnation further shows how the law views sin
–it is "utterly sinful" (v. 13).B. Legalism, in the hands of its
practitioners, is, purely and simply, a power play for
control.

The Pharisees were the masters of legalism and went to
the extreme to maintain their religious influence and control over the people,
even to having our sinless Savior crucified.

But as Christians united with Christ by grace through
faith and not by obedience to the law, we can rejoice with the Apostle
Paul,

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)

a) SIN IS BAD ENOUGH, BUT LEADING OTHERS INTO SIN IS
A WOE!1. Luke 17:1 Jesus said to his disciples; "things that cause people to
sin are bound to come, but woe to the that person through whom they come. 2) It
would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around
his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin

In the light of the things said about the law it is now
clear the Law of Moses is totally incapable to provide salvation for anyone. It
is not a means to secure the favor of God. I agree with the theologian, Dr. Earl
Radmacher, when he said in his book, SALVATION, "The Law of Moses was not a
means of deliverance from the penalty of sin. The Law was given that mankind
might have a vivid picture of the character of God and how far short we
fall.'

CLOSING. We have an obligation to our Lord Jesus who
paid the supreme price for our spiritual emancipation. A. His death has set
us free from all bondage.

1. To live in bondage to sin is to nullify the
grace of God. 2. To live in bondage and be subject to Satan's wiles
nullifies the grace of God. 3. To live in bondage to the edicts of any
religious group or system nullifies the grace of God. 4. To live under the
tyranny of trying to please others at all costs nullifies the grace of God.
5. To live under the constant demands of having to perform in order to be
Saved!

The Bible tells us that as Christians we are to fulfill
"the law of Christ' and "the perfect law of liberty' (Gal. 6:2; James
1:25).Freedom from the law is to be under the new administration of God with
new sets of principles to guide us in the new pattern of living in His
grace.

Galatians 5.1 - Stand fast therefore in the liberty by
which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of
bondage.

The New American Standard Bible translates the first
phrase of this verse to read, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." In
other words, Christ did not lay down His life to pay the awesome cost for our
liberty for us then return to servitude to law, traditions and religious
regulations. This is precisely what the Galatians were doing. And it is what we
do when we choose to rely on personal performance, and not on God's grace, to
find approval with God.